ALL IN with Evan Jarvis: Greg Merson
From small stakes to the big picture, HUDs to MTTs to ETFs, this episode covers it all, as Evan goes ALL INwith his former roommate: the one and only Greg Merson.
With his legendary WSOP heater in 2012, Greg Merson catapulted himself into the poker spotlight, winning the $10k 6-max, the Main Event, and Player of the Year honors.
But his breakout was no fluke: Greg Merson is one of poker’s biggest grinders and sharpest minds--a “perpetual 24-tabler,” few can match Merson’s appetite for the game.
In this in-depth conversation, Greg offers a rare peek behind the curtain, as he recounts his 16-hour sessions, his battles with addiction, the importance of friendship, and how getting stiffed for $100k fueled his WSOP bracelet win.
Show Time Stamps
| 0:15 | Evan introduces Greg Merson |
| 3:35 | Greg joins the show |
| 5:40 | How Greg discovered poker: "I guess I just saw it on ESPN...and then the first time I played was with my brother's friends. I didn't know what beat what." |
| 6:31 | Greg reads Phil Hellmuth's "Play Poker Like the Pros": "Just reading that put me way ahead of the kids I was playing against." |
| 7:41 | Greg's early bankroll building: "I didn't really know what my plan was, it's not like I thought I would be playing online poker at the time." |
| 9:20 | Poker and drug use: "I don't really remember too much of my early partypoker days because those were mixed with so much drug use." |
| 10:29 | Early MTTs and Pocket Fives: "I started following the rankings and JohnnyBax was the #1-ranked player back then." |
| 11:49 | Greg overcoming early struggles finding his poker niche: "All of a sudden out of nowhere, something just clicked for me with six-max." |
| 14:11 | How Greg challenges conventional actions to stay unpredictable: "If we're all thinking the same, we aren't thinking at all." |
| 16:48 | All the raises: the “Five Slide” and the “Crispy Six” |
| 19:10 | Early HUD use & 24-tabling: "I ended up not using a HUD for all of 2009, and most of 2010, and that's when I really climbed the stakes." |
| 22:03 | Greg's sick call-down at the Bellagio $10-$20-$40 game |
| 24:48 | Adderall and poker: "It ended up hurting my growth considerably, and I didn't really use it that long." |
| 27:18 | The drawbacks of stimulants: "When my brain shuts down, I just need to stop playing. It's okay." |
| 27:44 | A lesson Greg learned in Macau about fatigue |
| 31:18 | How to know when to quit a session and when to fight through one: "I think just over the years I've gotten better at actually quitting...(but) if you're just always quitting...then you're never pushing yourself to fight through any adversity." |
| 32:24 | Greg break downs good tilt vs bad tilt: "Sometimes, I'm on good tilt, where I have that image that I'm really tilted but I'm just ramping up the aggression in a somewhat-controlled way." |
| 33:02 | Greg's 2012 grind & "punishment days": "If I have a bad day or bad showing or bad session, I'll punish myself the next day and force myself to play lower." |
| 34:29 | How Greg's off-table work keeps him fresh: "I've done so much work on my mental game in the last 18 months." |
| 35:29 | Arthritis and changes in Greg's diet: "I put my best foot forward to get the micro-nutrients in to play better." |
| 36:49 | How Greg brings it every day: "My durability is my best attribute as a player." |
| 39:11 | The Big One for One Drop ($1 million tournament): "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." |
| 41:11 | Greg's "big picture" mentality: "I love playing so much...that's why I'm comfortable playing smaller than I'm used to." |
| 42:56 | Sponsor: |
| 43:42 | What Greg learned battling high stakes head to head in 2011: "I was more driven by the fact that I had spent three years amassing a bankroll through getting Supernova Elite without actually getting that much better at the game." |
| 46:37 | Cash Games vs. Tournaments: "I have so much respect for the tournament players. The variance is even worse now with the edges getting smaller." |
| 52:19 | Why you should take chances to scale your net worth in your 20s and 30s: "Taking the occasional shot breaks up the monotony of grinding." |
| 56:57 | Goal-setting with money: "So much of it is out of your control." |
| 59:19 | Why an expensive view is worth the EV: "I wanted to wake up and be inspired every day to work that much harder." |
| 01:01:50 | Why Greg is waiting to get his sports car: "I want to have something to look forward to later in life and not just have it all right away." |
| 01:02:41 | Greg on building a financial legacy & investing without advisers: "I'm kinda driven by the fact that I want my last name to have a legacy where I can pass on everything that I've learned from investing." |
| 01:05:20 | What grandparents taught Greg about what matters: "I just feel the energy from them that nothing matters besides your family and the ones you care about." |
| 01:06:43 | Greg on introversion and managing energy: "I definitely close myself off of opportunities to hang out with people because I know it's going to significantly drain me." |
| 01:10:06 | The importance of hobbies and fitness: "Just getting in the gym in general has helped me so much with giving me something to do." |
| 01:12:02 | Greg's introduction to meditation |
| 01:13:03 | Experience with chiropractic healing: "Being able to talk to somebody about whatever is definitely key." |
| 01:14:35 | Why Greg wouldn't want his kids to get into poker: "As much as I love the game...I just wouldn't want anybody to have to go through all these highs and lows." |
| 01:15:05 | The top ways that good players go broke |
| 01:15:59 | Risks of Cryptocurrency: "I kinda think the whole craze with cryptocurrency is going to end up hurting a lot of people." |
| 01:18:00 | Greg remembers moving into Tony Gregg's house: "It really was the perfect storm for me." |
| 01:20:05 | The thrill of climbing the online cash game stakes for the first time: "I've always just been fascinated by the online cash game scene. I don't think there ever will be (more fun) than climbing the first couple stakes and how difficult it is to break through the next level." |
| 01:21:49 | Greg on the sacrifice it takes to reach the elite: "If you want to be really good at something, you're just naturally not going to be balanced." |
| 01:22:20 | The increasing role of math and theory in poker: "In the last few years, my strategy with poker has changed quite a bit." |
| 01:23:08 | Greg on limited use of poker software: "I've gotten into it a little bit lately and am actually really enjoying it, but I would rather just be playing poker or doing something else. I'm doing it as a means to survive." |
| 01:25:06 | The 2012 "Pro Bowl" of Poker: "The Pro Bowl was the $10k Six-Max...winning that tournament was a dream come true." |
| 01:26:42 | The old days, pre-software: "Those were fun days, where you weren't relying on these different softwares so much." |
| 01:29:17 | How bluffing has changed in the modern game: "It's so detrimental to your win rate when you punt off, and people aren't doing it back to you." |
| 01:30:01 | Greg comments on current trend towards tight play: "If you want to do well, you just have to be so much more in-line these days." |
| 01:31:27 | The problem with re-entry tournaments: "It is nice to feel free and just go after all the chip-EV spots on Day 1...but I think it's very short-sighted for the longevity of the game, and it's made tournament poker a lot worse." |
| 01:31:46 | Sponsor: 888poker[/URL] (Use the promo code "ALLIN" when you make your first deposit) |
| 01:32:55 | Greg on looking forward to having a family |
| 01:36:19 | Managing energy and socializing as an introvert: "I've always been really bad at reaching out. It's kinda weird." |
| 01:39:52 | Greg on giving advice about substance abuse over social media DMs: "If someone reaches out to me on any platform asking for advice on drug stuff, I'm pretty much always responding to them." |
| 01:44:55 | Balancing addiction and a career in gambling: "You know that you have that demon inside of you...that's why I love speaking to these people when they reach out, because I completely understand." |
| 01:47:59 | On diet and weight loss: "It's just so easy to say no when it's not worth whatever short-term gratification you're going to get for it." |
| 01:50:00 | Evan and Greg talk addiction and self-medicating |
| 01:51:59 | Greg on earning back his parents' trust after his battles with addiction: "They did a really good job of making me earn the trust back but at the same time not making me feel ashamed." |
| 01:55:41 | The PokerNews Podcast Network is . |
| 01:56:49 | The story of Evan and Greg getting stiffed for $100,000 at a cash game |
| 01:59:30 | How getting stiffed spurred Greg's WSOP run: "That's one of the things I was thinking about when I won, I'm not even kidding." |
| 02:01:55 | Greg on getting stiffed again for $40,000: "The more recent one hurt a lot more because I was giving a ton of action to the guy who stiffed me." |
| 02:02:53 | Why Greg misses being all-in multiple times a day |
| 02:04:50 | Greg's heater before the World Series of Poker: "I just felt super-confident. I felt like it was more validated than some other players before me, or even after me." |
| 02:06:51 | How Greg would prepare differently for the WSOP final table: "I definitely would've understood ICM better. I would've done way more research to find out what pieces people had of themselves." |
| 02:08:58 | The experience of final-tabling with a crew: "It was awesome, just all the enthusiasm and having a team rooting for you." |
| 02:11:26 | Why Greg continued to have backers after his $10k Six-Max win: "I was just appreciative of him giving me the opportunity in the first place, and I wanted to really make good." |
| 02:14:12 | Evan on the deeper connection that builds through swaps |
| 02:15:42 | Greg on motivating role of Tony Gregg: "It's like a healthy competition, it's something to chase, I look up to him." |
| 02:18:54 | Evan on the seven habits of highly effective people |
| 02:20:16 | Why Greg doesn't want to travel for poker anymore: "I don't think I'm going to do any trips besides playing Borgata in January." |
| 02:22:55 | Investment tips from 'Moneyman' Merson: "I would set aside a portion of your check that you're comfortable acting like is not there." |
| 02:27:12 | Greg's advice to people struggling with addiction: "Just get through one day. Try getting through one day and then be honest with yourself about how difficult it is for you to get through one day." |
| 02:29:23 | How to deal with relapses: "I just had six years clean and I don't take that for granted...I know I have so much to lose, not just money." |
| 02:31:52 | Greg's advice to his younger self: "I would say that for all the traveling I did earlier in my career, to actually enjoy some of that." |
| 02:35:18 | Evan and Greg discuss meditation |
| 02:40:11 | The challenges of meditation in a world full of stimulation and advertising: "I'm very lucky that I don't get exposed too much to the advertisements." |
| 02:44:22 | Greg considers what a career in poker would be like with kids: "I actually don't really need to grind." |
Learn more about podcast host, Evan Jarvis, on his coaching site, . Follow on Twitter.
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